Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles

Latest Episodes:

Steve Miller Band, The Joker, and the "pompatus" of love Aug 28, 2024

Show notes

It’s the song that put the word “pompatus” into our collective consciousness, a made-up word that was actually a mishearing of ANOTHER made up word. But it sounds great in “The Joker,” proving once again that in rock and roll, if it sounds good no one will bat an eyelash to question it. In fact, “The Joker” was the Steve Miller Band’s first number one hit on the Billboard singles chart, and we’ve been singing along to it since 1973. Let’s get into the story of this ever-popular song in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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The secret sauce in ZZ Top's biggest hit album Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

It took original thinking to make one of the best-selling albums of an entire decade, and that’s just what ZZ Top did, although they had some help with coming up with the sound. Completely bypassing the notion that nothing new could be done with rock ‘n roll, the trio released Eliminator in 1983, an album that blended their brand of Texas boogie woogie blues rock with synth sounds and drum machines, unleashing danceble rockers that topped the charts. But there is an unsung hero in the ZZ Top story. Dig into it - and how “Sharp Dressed Man” perfectly sums up the 80’s mindset - in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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How “Closer To The Heart” by Rush started with a friendship Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

It’s been said “Closer To The Heart” by Rush is Canada’s “Stairway To Heaven,” in ways that go beyond the technical, and it struck a chord worldwide to audiences in a way that Rush’s songs hadn’t before. There’s a folk vibe to this song, a message about finding personal balance and how doing that puts the world at large in a better kind of order. It was the first Rush song to have lyrics penned by an outside co-writer, and it became a hit. Geddy Lee said it was “as close as they ever got to a pop song.” But who was that outside writer? Let’s get into “Closer To The Heart” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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Bon Jovi's story that started in "Livin' On A Prayer" Jun 26, 2024

Show notes

It was a song that Jon Bon Jovi had to admit that he was wrong about. It took serious convincing for him to agree to put what became Bon Jovi’s signature song on their third album, a make or break album for the band. And the song does what only a very big, monster hit song can do: get in your head and stay there, probably forever. It also tells a story about a couple of kids, Tommy and Gina…the first in a series of songs in which the couple would appear. Get into the story of “Livin’ On A Prayer” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast with your host, Janda Lane.

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The emotional ride of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” Jun 05, 2024

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It may be the most delicate song in the entire Rolling Stones catalog, with Mick Jagger delivering every single line of “Wild Horses” with an impassioned weight. And there’s good reason for that. By the time this song was written and recorded for 1971’s Sticky Fingers album, the Stones had more than enough personal drama to sing about. Get into it in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast with Janda Lane.

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Who was Heart's "Magic Man?" May 15, 2024

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Workplace romances can be challenging…especially when your job is being part of a rock band. That was certainly the case with the band Heart. In fact, their first Top 10 hit in the US was written about the beginnings of what became an intra-band relationship. Get into the story of “Magic Man” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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The year John Mellencamp took control Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

By 1983, John Mellencamp had finally gotten the upper hand on his career. After the success of his breakthrough album, 1982’s American Fool, he had all the cards in his deck to change the game when it came to his relationship with the music business executives who had tried to control him from the start, over six years earlier.

For his seventh studio album, Uh Huh, he did just that. Released in the fall of '83, t is the first album that bears his last name, an important step toward freeing himself of artistic shackles. Uh Huh was another success for Mellencamp on the charts, and one of its charting singles could be viewed as his mission statement: a song that encapsulates not only his battle with the folks in the corner offices who tried to dictate his career but the very spirit of the man himself. Let’s get into the story of “Authority Song” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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The timeless appeal of Pink Floyd’s “Time” Apr 03, 2024

Show notes

The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd stands alone in many ways. By dealing with the uncomfortable concepts of life, death, greed, and mental illness, this body of work chimes with the human experience on a real level, which is remarkable considering that Roger Waters wrote the lyrics when he was just in his late 20’s. The content resonates so completely that The Dark Side Of The Moon holds the record on the Billboard 200 chart for being the longest-charting album in the chart’s history - over a thousand weeks and counting. It is one of the best-selling albums in the world, one of the most important in the entire rock genre. And when it comes to “Time,” track four on side one, we have a song that confronts us with our very path of existence. It traces the whole pattern of life, from youth to death and the great beyond, in six minutes and 53 seconds of pure poetry and amazingly creative audio imagery - ticking clocks and all. Get into it in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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The ELO song scientifically proven to make you happy Mar 13, 2024

Show notes

ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” is one of the best examples of Jeff Lynne’s particularly bouncy brand of symphonic rock, a song that holds several surprises and reveals itself more and more with each repeated listen...including the very last line of the song, which is actually an often-misheard request! It has been proven to fit a “Feel Good Song Formula” by a scientist who tested it to find the world’s happiest tune. And for such a bright, happy song, would you be surprised to know that it all came about after Lynne had been suffering from a weather-induced writer’s block, a mental funk, while holed up in Switzerland? A funk that literally ended when the sun came out. Let’s dig in to the awesome story of “Mr. Blue Sky” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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The inspiration behind Pete Townshend’s biggest hit Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

The song is the biggest hit of Pete Townshend’s solo career, an infectious tune that the songwriter behind The Who has called “just a little ditty.” It’s a Hollywood favorite, used in charming romantic scenes in movies and TV shows. But like most things about this artist’s work, “Let My Love Open The Door” has a more complex and deeper meaning than what it sounds like at first. Let’s get into it in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

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